Tipsy
by Skysha-Tranqui
Summary: Sequel to 'Sober'. Yaoi. Spander. Psychic!Xander is finishing cemetery patrol with Buffy and co when he has another vision of Spike in trouble. Please read and let me know what you think. Enjoy!


Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, or any of its character's, and I don't claim to, so don't sue me!

Pairing: S/X

Plot: After patrolling through the cemetery with Buffy and co, Xander has another vision, and comes across a drunk Spike.

Second in my mini series of ficlets, based around Psychic!Xander. Again, please let me know what you think, and enjoy!

**also just thought I'd set the timing – although I'm not sure on the sequence of events in the programme, so this is hodgepodge of them.Spike's been chipped, tried to live on his own, and done the bit with Giles. **

2) Xander has his carpenter job, isn't with Anya, never was with Anya, and moved out of his Basement without ever having roomed with Spike.

3) Joyce is dead, Buffy, Willow and Tara live at the Summers' house and take care of Dawn – nothing from Glory yet, nor do they have the money problems they did in the series.

4) Angel, Drusilla and Oz left the same way they did in the series.

Umm…if you spot any other inconsistencies let me know and I'll add them to this explanation 

Tipsy

It was a nice, breezy night. Not too hot, not too cold. The moon was shining down, letting the humans in the group actually see reasonably well for once. And Xander was happy.

"So, what's next, oh Slayer mine? Any more oogley boogleys to take care of, or is that it for the night?"

Buffy looked at the bouncing Xander, and shook her head slightly, smiling.

"No, Xander, that's it for the night I'm afraid. Not to worry though, there will probably be another apocalypse next week, if that will slake your recent slaying craze?"

"Huh?" Pausing to look at his friends, Xander took in their blue-hued appearance for the first time. A glance down proved himself to be similarly caked in the stuff, and he gave a sheepish grimace.

"Sorry, Buff – it's not that I'm ungrateful for the reprieve, I'm just not used to it yet I guess."

Laughing at his sincere expression, Buffy socked him lightly in the arm, not realising he was actually talking about a different reprieve – it had been days since he'd had to drown his visions in drink, he hadn't had a knock since Spike had almost…

"S'okay, you wouldn't be you if you weren't eager about everything."

As she continued on ahead, Buffy missed the sight of Xander's eyes changing colour, as the brown bled into the white. So did Willow and Giles, who had already pulled ahead of the pair in their eagerness to get home and, in the case of Willow, reunite with their poorly girlfriend.

However, she couldn't fail to miss the dull thud made by Giles' smallest axe as it fell from Xander's lax hand, or the muffled cry of pain accompanying it. Buffy immediately spun round, on her Slayer guard still, despite the playful bantering, in time to see Xander cradling his head in his hands as he hunched over.

…_Brown eyes…narrow nose…beady eyes…fists…scowls…taunts…green eyes…dark eyes…clouded with rage…pain…feet…can't-fight-back…terror…a woman laughing…_

With an abruptness that startled even Buffy, causing her to jump back a step, Xander pulled himself upright. All signs of pain appeared to have disappeared, and his dark eyes didn't spare a glance at any of them as he tore off through the cemetery. Leaving Buffy to stare, as her friend hurdled over gravestones with a reckless energy she'd never seen him display before.

The other Scoobies disappeared from his mind as soon as the vision had ended, all thoughts focusing on the fact that Spike was in danger. Again. _What's he even doing in that part of the cemetery? It's no-where near his crypt._

Telling the confused voice in his head to shut up, the brown-haired boy automatically ducked – his powers of prescience working double time to help him traverse the graveyard without tripping or breaking something.

Just as his lungs were about to give out, the sight of something moving drew his attention.

Over by the very gates of the cemetery there was what looked like a cluster of men, who anybody else would assume were out having a drink, possibly looking for headstones to deface in their drunken idiocy. It was only through Xander's currently superior eyesight _Thank you powers_ that he was able to spot the small blob of light on the ground at their feet. And it was only due to his vision that Xander was able to identify the blob as being a laid-out Spike.

"Hey! Stop, what do you think you're doing!"

Yelling wasn't something Xander resorted to unless as a distraction, but one other thing his vision had picked up on made him slightly reluctant to start a physical fight.

_…blood pounding…_

Vampire's blood didn't pound, meaning the assailants had to be human. _You could punch them and pretend you thought they were demons_ Came the tempting voice.

Continuing towards the crowd of men, who had ignored his raised admonishment, Xander met the first of them with a full-body slam, sending one of the men smashing into a tree, and another one teetering off-balance.

Just because they were human didn't mean he wouldn't hurt them. It just made him slightly reluctant about hurting them. Key word: reluctant.

_Aim for the solar plexus_ Adjusting his aim in accordance, Xander felt a rush of fierce satisfaction as it took another man out of the count. A knee to the stomach put another in prime position for an elbow to the neck, and a prickling along his spine told him to turn, whirling to block the punch of one of the less-surprised men.

By the time Xander had worked his way through them all, leaving the men groaning on the grass, Spike had also started groaning himself. However, his small, muffled, groans were self-induced, as the vampire rolled onto his stomach and struggled to push himself to his knees.

_No no no no no _In complete agreement with the concerned voice, Xander rushed over to the bleached menace and wrapped his arms around the injured vamp's waist to help him move to a more dignified – and, hopefully, more comfortable – position. Ignoring the way firm muscles felt under his arms, and the smooth slide of velvety skin where Spike's t-shirt was riding up, Xander eased him into a sitting position and started checking his injuries.

Spike's face, already rather pained, took on an expression similar to that of someone who'd been sucking on a lemon, as he saw both who his rescuer was and what he was trying to do. Nonetheless he managed to hold onto his silence, obviously aware he wouldn't be able to change the boy's mind, and – other than some small pained hisses, and a suspicious catching of his breath – he bore the brief medical reasonably well.

The Scooby gang didn't know what to make of it, when they came upon them a few short moments later.

It was only after Willow, Giles and Buffy had all stood there, gawking, as they looked from the sprawl of men on the ground, to the bloodied Spike and the nursemaid Xander, that donut boy finally took pity on them and tried to explain things, in as roundabout way as possible.

"Umm, guys? I think Spike might need some help getting back to his place, seeing how he's just had the crap kicked out of him by humans, so would you mind helping me lift him?"

Letting out a small growl, Spike drew Xander's attention to his vamped out face, which the boy stared at for a full minute before emitting a small sounding "oh."

"Not that you couldn't have taken them, of course, Spike! I mean, well, if you didn't have the chip anyway…"

As Giles watched Xander trying to placate the blonde vampire, the entire situation suddenly struck him as hilarious. In all his years training as a Watcher, and fighting beside this group of teenagers, he'd never thought to see one of them trying to comfort a soulless vampire, reassuring it that it was still the 'big bad', even without it's teeth.

Fiercely glaring at the bespectacled ex-librarian, as his random laughter caused the vampire in his lap to tense even more, Xander couldn't wrap his mind round how insensitive some people could be.

The last thing anybody wanted after being beaten up was to be laughed at. Yet that's the exact reaction the G-man seemed to deem appropriate for the situation.

"Buffy, Willow? Can you guys get him by the other shoulder? We'll just let Giles finish with his little fit."

Yellow eyes faded back to sky blue, as Spike took in the righteous indignation pouring out of the Scooby's body. You'd almost think Giles had been laughing at Xander, the way he was reacting to it.

Mindful of his own injuries, it was with a cautious hand that Spike grabbed Xander's wrist when he saw the Slayer and the Witch coming over to help.

"Slight problem with the taking-me-back-to-my-crypt-and-dumping-me-there plan pet, in that I was over here to try and find myself a new place to kip." Seeing Xander's incomprehension, he sighed briefly before giving the details he'd rather not have given. "See, someone's ransacked my old place, meaning it isn't the safest bolt hole right now."

"You're really having a bad few days, aren't you?"

Over his laughter, Giles looked up from polishing his glasses. "Xander, really, I don't think it's quite that bad. Likely the crypt is just a bit of a mess right now, and as for this…fight – well, what do you expect, walking through the cemetery at night?"

"Oh, no, G-man, I wasn't talking about those things. I meant how someone tried to shoot Spike a few nights ago." Xander shrugged slightly. "Just seems to me that's a lot of bad luck to have in a week."

"Someone tried to shoot Spike?" At Willow's disbelieving voice, and Buffy's slightly hopeful one, Xander suddenly regretted telling them all. Maybe it would have been wiser to have kept quiet, because of course, with the telling of all of Spike's 'incidents', also came the telling of all of Xander's timely 'rescues'. The number of which was slightly too high to count as 'lucky'. Particularly considering how much bad luck he'd just noted Spike as having.

"Well…"

Recognising Xander's sudden reluctance to speak, and attributing it to the fact that the incident had occurred in a well-known demon bar – and the fact that the boy's presence in which would likely raise a few eyebrows – Spike quickly took over the explanation.

"I was just a bar, minding me own business, having a drink – next thing I now there's an arrow sticking out the bar, right next to me!" Actually feeling indignant, now that he thought about it, Spike broke off into muttering. "Can't even have a bloody drink these days without people taking a shot at you…"

"Yes, well, quite. That does sound rather more pre-meditated than this attack, do you have reason to suspect the attempted shooting and the raid of your 'bolt hole', might be connected?"

Typical bloody Watcher. 'Oh, don't worry, Spike's only had the shit kicked out of him', but any mention that there could be some kind of plot behind it, and he was right in there – brain ticking over like it was some kind of spectator crossword puzzle or something!

_…rushed hands…nervous…it'll be back soon…red velvet…pale skin…books…black clothes…rip it…_

"Yes."

Blinking ensued, as they all turned to the brown-haired man, who currently had his head down and was studying the ground like it had just sprouted horns and declared itself a virgin.

"Er, 'yes' what, pet?"

As Spike cautiously shifted onto his heels, preparing to stand and move closer to Xander, he realised he recognised the current stance as the same one the boy had taken just before he'd pushed Spike that night at the bar.

Bloodshot hazel eyes swung up and locked onto Spike's concerned face. Belatedly realising he must have spoken out loud, Xander thanked whatever God there was that his eyes had returned to normal, and prayed nobody would notice the sweat at his temples – caused by the strain of forcing a vision – as he fumbled for an explanation.

"I think it is connected." The little chuckle sounded forced even to him, but nobody called him on it. "I mean, it'd have to be a pretty big coincidence, and its not like Spike's exactly low-profile around here, is it?"

Flicking an evaluative look over the crumpled picture Spike currently presented, Giles appeared to be satisfied with whatever he read in the confused expression on the vampire's face.

"Well, might I suggest that we all meet at the Magic Box tomorrow to try and determine who the culprit could be? Until then, it might be best if Spike stay at Xander's for the time being," Tugging at his jacket, he self-consciously avoided the vampire's knowing stare. "Afterall, the girls have enough on their plate, looking after Dawn and themselves. And I strongly doubt either myself or Spike would care to repeat our co-habitation experience."

The snort from the leather-clad form aptly expressed his thoughts on the matter, and it was with wide, if normal, eyes, that Xander watched Giles send Willow home to the flu-stricken Tara, and talk Buffy into hauling Spike across town to Xander's modest apartment.

Finding himself carried along on the whirlwind which was a determined Giles, and a rushed Buffy, it was only as the door shut behind the two, and he found himself with his arms full of leather and pale skin, that he realised exactly what he'd been signed up for.

"Looks like it's just you'n'me pet."

As a quiet tap-tap-tapping took up residence in his head, Xander rolled his eyes behind Spike's back. What could go wrong next? _Why ask if you don't want to know?_


End file.
